The Chronicles of Project 32

Chapter 1:
My Compliments to the Chef

The evening is young but the sky begs the differ casting its darkness into the street below. The small Italian eatery goes unnoticed to passers by, except for its few regulars who meet on its torch lit patio every Thursday night, to get a taste of the chefs most impressive dish. Three cheese lasagna, with a strawberry custard desert only $15.99.

Tonight the eatery is more quiet than usual. Only two people sit on the deserted old town street discussing matters of dire concern, in voices no louder than a whisper. They order the lasagna.

“Tirk, you know more than anyone what Dr. Johnson is doing is illegal…” says a well dressed man who quiets his voice as the waiter approaches.

“Here you are sir, enjoy” says the waiter slipping the steaming plate in front of the man who just went silent. “and for you Mr. Tirk.”

Tirk nods at the waiter as he too slides the famous dish in front of him as well and he re-enters the eatery.

The well dressed man speaks up again, this time more frantic and with more purpose. “…not just Illegal Tirk! Its immoral, if anyone finds out about it the company will be ruined.”

“Let me ask you something Mr. Douglas. Why did you hire me in the first place?” asks the man known as Mr. Tirk.

“Because you’re the best at what you do obviously” replies Mr. Douglas, taking a bite into the lasagna.

“Exactly, and what is it that I do?” says Tirk in a calm voice, unaffected by the man sitting across obviously enjoying the chef’s special and clearly in a very distressed state.

“You make things disappear, you cover them up. You make them not exist!” repeats the man, his voice approaching a more normal volume level. “But what Dr. Johnson is doing is not what I signed off on. The man has gone insane, I mean human testing! My company, and my reputation are at stake here!”

“I will deal with Johnson, Mr. Douglas. I need you to stay calm for now. You are right, I’m the best at making things disappear. You and your company will be fine, no one will know what happened there.”

“I hope your right,” replies Mr. Douglas. He takes another bite of lasagna. “I hope for the worlds sake that you are right.”

“Project 32 will be dealt with tonight. By tomorrow you will be able to sleep soundly once again Mr. Douglas. For now…just enjoy the food.”Tirk looks at his watch.

“Thank you Mr. Tirk. This is possibly the best thing I’ve ever eaten. Why aren’t you eating yours?”

Mr. Tirk’s watch alarm signals the arrival of 11pm. A smile stretches across his face, and the man across the table drops face first into his half eaten plate of lasagna. The waiter comes out unaffected seeing the man dead on the table.

“Give my compliments to the chef Jim,” says Tirk pulling out a stack of one hundred dollar bills. “His lasagna was to die for.”

“Yes sir, I will let him know. What about the body?”

“Go home Jim, one call and all of this will be taken care of. One call can fix everything.” with that, Tirk pulls from his jacket pocket a small black phone and presses speed dial one.